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THE SKINNY: Welcome to the world of "The X-Factor." From the start of Wednesday night's premiere, the "X" would take the foundations of "American Idol" — high drama, big lights and heartfelt stories — and build for the sky. This was an emotionally draining show, with stories of poor families, down-on-their-luck talents and even a meth-addict fresh out of rehab. If you feet that "Idol" has gotten stale in recent seasons (and it has, with its predictable guy-with-a-guitar winners), then "X-Factor" felt like a welcome reminder of just how great it feels to root for someone — someone perhaps trapped in a mundane life,...

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THE SKINNY: Welcome to the world of "The X-Factor." From the start of Wednesday night's premiere, the "X" would take the foundations of "American Idol" — high drama, big lights and heartfelt stories — and build for the sky....

Television just isn't the same without Simon Cowell. Whether you love or loathe him, there's little denying his impact on reality TV competitions and pop-culture in general. Cowell returns to the tube Wednesday night, when his beloved project (and...

We'd rather not think about the Super Bowl. But after the Vince Lombardi Trophy is presented to Sunday's winner comes a championship contest we can really get behind: the premiere of the second season of "The Voice" on NBC. A different kind of...

THE SKINNY: Have we been had? "The X-Factor" followed up a seriously stellar debut with a two-hour mess of talentless singers and worse. The supporters of the first episode should be worried. Was Thursday night the real "X-Factor" or...

THE SKINNY: More auditions. It was basically the same show as the first two, with more talent than the second but no where near what the first had. There was actual drama between the judges not agreeing on talent, and Fox wisely saved it for last. The...

Paige Elizabeth, an 18-year-old day-care worker from Perry Hall, is getting a crash course in the power of television and instant fame. Two weeks ago, a brief clip of her audition singing Lady Gaga’s “You & I” aired on Simon Cowell’s “The X...

Two area Maryland performers made it to the final 12 on Simon Cowell's talent competition "The X Factor."They are 18-year-old Paige Elizabeth, of Perry Hall, and 20-year-old Marcus Canty, of Bowie.Read a Sun interview I did with Elizabeth...

This episode needed a parental guidance warning.Alexis gets a new nose and it is already out of joint because Gretchen didn’t visit her on the day of the operation. And lucky us – we get to see everything they pulled out of Alexis’ old nose -- septum...

The ratings are in, and it's time to ask: What went wrong with "X Factor"?
Season 3 of Simon Cowell's singing show got a jump-start on the fall season Wednesday night, but the numbers were pretty close to a disaster. An average of 6.2...

The 2013 edition of “A Very Special Christmas” albums benefiting the Special Olympics puts the focus on superstar names, with a roundup of holiday songs from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Sting and Tom Petty and the...

This post has been updated. See below for details.
Not so long ago, Simon Cowell was probably the most powerful man on American TV.
His cranky, caustic judging had helped make "American Idol" an invincible No. 1 hit. As a producer, he makes...

Simon Cowell is closing up shop on the U.S. version of "The X Factor."
Fox, along with Syco and FremantleMedia, announced the show has concluded its stateside run after three seasons.
“I’ve had a fantastic time over the last 12 years, both...

Yeah, right. Like any town would outlaw dancing, as officials do in the 1984 movie “Footloose” and its remake, opening Oct. 14. Or would they?“Our producers searched, just to make sure it was still relevant, to see if anything like this was still...